July 21, 2010

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 75 (MP3s)

Give the Drummer Some'sFavorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere

Still about a hundred boxes to unpack, but it's beginning to look a little like home here in the new digs in Pittsburgh. Once the old Interweb gizmo got connected, the Motherlode machinery started right up and is now cranking out high-sheen gems like always. (See below.)

A ton of the music featured here at the Motherlode is running 24/7 on the new web stream (hear it here). Be sure to tune in Fridays 9AM to noon (EST) to listen live to my radio show, Give the Drummer Some, though if you miss it, archives and playlists for each program are available here. Click here to get on the Motherlode mailing list.

Strung UpLongtime cohort in Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys, dobro legend Beecher Ray "Bashful Brother Oswald" Kirby was actually born in the Smokies. Despite contributing a lifetime of classic performances and recordings, Kirby didn't become a member of the Grand Ole Opry until 1995 at the age of 83.

knee-DEEPWith Wadada Leo Smith, Larry Ochs and Andrew Cyrille alongside, under-appreciated bass master John Lindberg created this thoughtful quartet masterpiece that comes off as the soundtrack to a free-jazz daydream.

Chop Chop ShopThis Justice League release from 1995 updates the DIP disc from 20 years earlier with an additional 5 dub tracks along with lovely guitar from Chinna, lyrical melodica from Pablo, and loopy attitude from Scratch.

Happy Belated Independence DayWith this original Rough Trade version from 1980 (the US label Artists House put out a different version with a new mix a year later), Ulmer established himself as a key figure in a musical moment that would coalesce with the founding of the Black Coalition half a decade later.

South of the Border-Blaster BolerosNot exactly on the border, Mexico City's 250,000-watt XEW was nevertheless one of the most powerful and influential radio stations when it was launched in the '30s. Lupe y Raúl, the exceedingly popular bolero duo of Guadalupe Muñóz Viguri and Raúl Piñera Salas, began their 30-year collaboration there in 1949.